Biology is complex and diverse, so scientific research approaches need to be too
By Thomas Merritt and Allie Hutchings
Biology is far messier than the tidy charts from high school textbooks. Genes aren’t simple on/off switches—and it turns out they might not even work alone. New research using fruit flies is challenging long-held beliefs, showing that genes on different chromosomes actually team up to regulate one another. This phenomenon, called transvection, adds a whole new layer of complexity to how traits emerge. More importantly, the studies show that biological systems behave differently depending on sex, environment, and individual variation.
To make sense of all this, researchers need more than microscopes—they need diverse teams asking better questions. That’s not just good ethics; it’s better science. But as social and political movements push back on diversity in academia, there’s a risk we’ll lose that creative edge. If we want to understand the rich complexity of life, we need research labs that reflect it.